Church of the New Darkness (Earth-616)
Citizens of Doverton, Colorado; Eric Morrell; Freak; Grendel Symbiote; Hybrid (Riot Symbiote Agony Symbiote, Phage Symbiote, Lasher Symbiote)/Maker (Reed Richards); Man-Wolf (John Jameson); Scream (Patricia Robertson); Sin-Eater (Emil Gregg); Sym-Soldiers; Will O' The Wisp | Allies = Knull; Symbiote Imperium | Enemies = Venom (Eddie Brock), Maker, Anti-Symbiote Task Force, Aberrant Crimes Division (Misty Knight), Mania (Andi Benton), Scream (Patricia Robertson), Deadpool (Wade Wilson), Sleeper Symbiote, Weapon V | Origin = Apocalyptic cult worshipping Knull and the symbiotes | PlaceOfFormation = Scandinavia | PlaceOfDefunction = | Creators = Donny Cates; Ryan Stegman | First = Venom Vol 4 8 | Last = | HistoryText = Origins After the defeat of the symbiote-dragon Grendel at the hands of Thor, pieces of its living abyss fell to earth and bonded to human hosts; forming a cannibalistic cult dedicated to the worship of the primordial god of the abyss, Knull, who had been sealed away at the core of Klyntar by his own creations when they rebelled against him. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean to North America at some time prior to the 15th century, the cult established a foothold in the forests and caves near what would eventually be known as Westchester County, preying upon the Wappinger and other local indigenous tribes who intruded into their territory. When Italian explorer Giovanni de Verranazzo led a party of soldiers into their territory in 1524, the cult ambushed and sacrificed several of them, causing de Verranazzo to flee back to Spain. In 1664, the cult attempted to abduct Molly Ravencroft, who managed to escape. When her husband Cortland Kasady came to rescue her and strayed too deep into their caves, the cult ambushed him and infected him with living abyss - corrupting his bloodline in the process. Modern Times Secretly enduring into modern times, the cult accrued enough resources and members to form paramilitary units, research teams, and field mobile command centers. Coming to revere the symbiote-augmented serial killer Carnage - a distant descendant of Cortland Kasady - as the prophet of Knull, the cult began posing as a legitimate religion and calling themselves the Church of the New Darkness; constructing a temple to Knull disguised as a church, , and infiltrating the Underground City once defended by the symbiote-augmented antihero Venom. At some point, the Scorn symbiote fell under Knull's influence and corrupted its host, Tanis Nieves, who became a high-ranking member of the cult. When Knull's resurgence was foiled by Venom, Tanis decided to resurrect Carnage and turn him into Knull's avatar. To enact this plan, she led a squad of soldiers to retrieve Cletus Kasady's corpse after it fell to Earth, and sent another squad to retrieve a sample of the Grendel symbiote from Project Oversight. Tanis bonded the sample of the Grendel symbiote to Cletus, reanimating him and connecting him to Knull. Rather than submit to Knull, Cletus ripped out Scorn's spine and consumed the Carnage symbiote's codex - trace remnants of the symbiote left over from her time as its host - which prevented Knull from taking over him. However, Carnage decided to free Knull and assumed command of the cult, setting out to hunt down former and current symbiote hosts to devour their codexes and symbiotes. Carnage's first move was to conquer the Underground City in San Francisco, establish a Spire of living abyss, enslave its citizens, and send them to hunt down former symbiote hosts; though this alerted the Venom symbiote to his return. Carnage then recruited his old allies Shriek and the Doppelganger to his cause. Shriek resumed her alias of "Sandra Deel" and began acting as the cult's public face, acquiring the Last Chance Church in Doverton, Colorado - which Carnage had once conquered years earlier. Shriek and Carnage subsequently converted the populace of Doverton to the cult and harvested their symbiote codices, leaving the city in ruins and alerting Misty Knight of the Aberrant Crimes Division to their activities. Over several months, Carnage continued to hunt codexes, at times assisted by a team of cultists acting as mission control. Under Carnage's control, John Jameson captured Misty Knight and imprisoned her in Ravencroft. Returning to Manhattan, Kasady established another Spire underneath Grand Street, sitting out the War of the Realms. Deciding to make his move, Kasady killed Lee Price to claim his codexes and the Mania symbiote, going after Eddie Brock - who was rescued by the Venom symbiote. Summoning the Knull-corrupted Riot, Agony, Phage, and Lasher symbiotes to go after Normie Osborn, Kasady compelled John Jameson to lure Spider-Man and Venom into a trap and took over Ravencroft Institute, infecting Norman Osborn with the Grendel symbiote to turn him into a copy of Carnage, enslaving the inmates, and resurrecting Demogoblin using Shriek as a vessel. When Deadpool burned down Ravencroft, Kasady returned to the Spire underneath Grand Street, unleashing his horde of symbiote-doppelgangers on the city - claiming Spider-Man (Miles Morales) and the resurrected Knull-corrupted Scream (Patricia Robertson) as minions. Dark Carnage and his horde attacked Rex Strickland's warehouse, battling the assembled heroes. However, when Venom killed Cletus Kasady and absorbed the Grendel symbiote into his own, the people being controlled by the Grendel symbiote's offshoots were freed. However, the cult's ultimate goal was achieved, as in doing so Venom had unleashed Knull from his prison. It is unknown what became of the cultists who had worshipped Knull prior to Carnage assuming control of the cult, though many of them were sacrificed to harvest codices or simply because Carnage wanted to kill someone. A few weeks after Knull was unleashed, Dylan Brock succumbed to his corrupting influence, pledging to spread the dark elder god's worship and kill anyone who tried to stop him. | Equipment = * While under Scorn's command, the cult was able to field paramilitary units equipped with combat armor. | Transportation = | Weapons = | Notes = | Trivia = * The Church of the New Darkness is inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos' Church of Starry Wisdom and other religious organizations serving as fronts for the worship of ancient eldritch horrors such the Great Old Ones. | Links = }} Category:Symbiotes-possessed Category:Knull Worship Category:Cthulhu Mythos Pastiches Category:Alien-Based Earth Religions Category:Mystical Organizations Category:Klyntar (Symbiotes) Category:Symbiote-Enhanced Organizations Category:Cannibals